September 28, 2007

Early yesterday morning, as I started in on this paragraph that began, "What is a teacher?..." my awakening brain thought I was reading something from Yoga Journal's My Yoga Mentor. It said, "A good Teacher directs the student’s eyes to the simple parts first, and slowly, bit by bit, gently guides the seeking hands along a proven path."

Only when I read the word violin, did a realize that this was an article from Senia, waiting for me as an e-mail message. Whether you're teaching yoga, the violin, or life skills: teach the simple parts first, offer bits of knowledge (repeatedly) until it becomes a system and the top of the mountain simply appears one day (aha!).

The greatest asset of being a teacher is that in the process of preparing for a class (or even leading a class with no idea of where it will lead), you often find yourself on the top of the mountain and joyfully wave your arms and jump up and down to encourage those in your class to come and join you. It's here! Come see!

September 25, 2007

I picked up a copy of Edible Hawaiian Islands' premier issue at the Keauhou Farmers Market this past Saturday. Publisher and editor, Gloria Cohen, writes: Everywhere you look, there are signs that the Hawaiian Islands are in the midst of a renaissance in sustainable eating (eating locally produced food) - and we should all be a part of it.

There's an article about Richard Ha's Hamakua Springs Country Farm that reminded me of the sauce I made using their cocktail tomatoes and a cilantro pesto from Manuka Farms (9/18 on my Eat Local food list). Ha expects to produce close to 2 million pounds of tomatoes this year in all shapes, sizes and varieties! I'd say he's doing his part in "...making our state self-sufficient."

The magazine highlights farmers as well as the commercial establishments that acquire and prepare locally grown foods. It credits the top chefs who began Hawaii Regional Cuisine (HRC), with changing the way Hawaii eats and thus raising the demand for top quality local produce and food products. Incidentally, Kona can be proud that one of the original HRC chefs is our own Amy Ferguson, owner of O's Bistro in the Crossroads Shopping Center.

At this point, you may get a complimentary copy of Edible Hawaiian Islands at all Borders stores in Hawaii, and maybe from one of the vendors at the Keauhou Farmers Market. Look for the pineapples on the cover! As for me, I want to try the Chopped Salad recipe from Restaurant Bar Acuda (page 30).

September 24, 2007

"In simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go, and gets up, and goes."-John Erskine

This is one of my favorite yoga photos because I remember the energy in the room that day, so vividly. I'm the fourth one from the right and my first yoga teacher, Darina Archer, is right in front of me.

The photo was taken shortly after the opening of the Big Island Yoga Center in Kealakekua. Up until then, Darina would find a place to hold classes and her students would follow. But as more people became interested in yoga, a permanent space and more teachers were needed. So there we stood in trikonasana, reaching for the sky and ready for the future.

Over the years, as each of us in the photo began to choose paths that took us away from the studio, it became apparent that Marcia Carman (first on the left) was committed to the vision of a flourishing yoga center there. She wished us well and gathered more responsibility for the care and custody of the studio. Eventually, there emerged a new line of teachers and students behind her.

Less than a month ago, Marcia learned that her respiratory distress and "listless" (as she described to me) nature, were the symptoms of her cancerous lung and liver. As friends learned of her condition they began to prepare for ways to offer Marcia and her husband, Hugh, all the support they would need. Marcia had other plans. Last Thursday evening, she passed away at her home with her husband and dear friends by her side.

As soon as the initial shock of her illness and death wears away, it is easy to reconnect with the energy that was Marcia. It's as though she just demonstrated a simple, yet consummate correction in a yoga pose: This is what I think is happening here and this is what I would do about it. Which invariably would leave those watching to ask, "How did she do that? I wonder if I could?"

There definitely are more choices available to me here in Kona and on the Big Island, but I have my favorites. Now that I've become much more aware of the beauty of eating locally, it's a matter of trying new recipes and food combinations.

If it's food market panache you seek, follow Alice Waters in New York. She cruises the entire market to scan what's available, forms a menu in her head and proceeds to forage through the food stalls. I'll try this on Saturday, sans video crew.

September 17, 2007

"A few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us."-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tricycle delivered another gem of a story yesterday from the book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones:In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.

"I do not need a lantern," he said. "Darkness or light is all the same to me."

"I know you do not need a lantern to find your way," his friend replied, "but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it."

The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him. "Look out where you are going!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can't you see this lantern?"

The gist of Taubes' article is this: be skeptical of any announcement that claims some new drug or an aspect of our diet or lifestyle is killing us or making us healthier. The research and science, he claims, is often flawed and faulty, especially if it's the first report.

I've learned to be skeptical simply through the experience of reading one conflicting report after another, scientific journalism included. Here's the good thing about all of the clashing opinions and resultant noise: it invites me to trust my own instincts and appreciate the time honored, well-worn practices that have served me.

I want to be open-minded and will try something new if it feels right, as yoga did for me nearly 20 years ago. However, as my allowance for 20-year long experiments begins to lessen, I want to develop stronger instincts along with the trust to adopt and adapt with greater agility.

I thought that you might be interested in our website, Loulies, which has two features: (1) "e-bites" which are sent out, on average, twice a week via email. They are short musings on anything and everything inspired by food and always include a great recipe, must-have tip, menu idea, new ingredient discovered etc.You must sign-up to receive the e-bites. (2) A Cook the Book club for those who want to learn to cook better with us (like a traditional book club, but we cook instead of read - this is how Suzanne and I met over 10 years ago and have learned to cook better with friends - it is really a great concept).

Such beautiful women, with the energy and creativity to match! I signed up to receive their 'e-bites' and you may want to do the same. Start a book club with your friends and let me know if you do. Especially if you live in Kona; "Have fork/spoon/chopsticks Will Travel".

September 10, 2007

"There's too much emotion, too much negative emotion: frustration, hatred, anger. I think that's the greatest obstacle. So I think as a first step this should be cooled down. Reduced. Forget these things. And I think for the time being, we need more festivals, more picinics. Let us forget these difficult things, these emotions, and make personal friends. Then we can start to talk about these serious matters."Dalai Lama, quoted in Ode Magazine (September 2007)

In Saturday's yoga class, we talked about the benefits of keeping an open mind as I'd written a short post about it a few days earlier. We agreed that open minded people appear more youthful and vibrant. Every day brings them a chance for a new adventure.

While we all have opinions and thoughts on just about every subject imaginable, our beliefs should allow and encourage growth rather than a stubborn stagnation. As British writer Gilbert Chesterton said, "A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones."

I like the Dalai Lama's suggestion to cool down and get happy through festivities. When we're not being challenged or threatened, our bodies can spend the time to heal and we're able to hear those instinctual whispers that lead us out of the ruts that habits form.

It will soon be the season for gathering and celebrating so this may be a good time to resolve to do things a bit differently. Celebrate with a new group of people or in a novel way or celebrate in the usual manner but with more positive attitudes and intentions.

You have nothing to lose. Either you'll make some new friends and have the best holiday season ever, or you'll acquire a new level of appreciation for the friends, family and traditions that you already have. If the thought of changing your holiday practices makes you uneasy, consider some of the introductory ideas listed on How to Exercise an Open Mind.

September 08, 2007

Now isn't that a well stocked refrigerator? Almost everything you see in there is a local, Big Island grown product. It's not my refer, I live alone and it would take me weeks to eat all of that food. The owner will remain anonymous because some things should remain sacred.

While the Eat Local Challenge has enlightened my awareness of the foods grown locally, it's also given me an appreciation for a Big Island supermarket chain, KTA Superstores. Many of the items in their produce section are grown on the island and their own Mountain Apple Brand specifically labels locally grown produce and food products.

I used to make the health food store my first stop, choosing from their small selection of organic fresh vegetables and fruits before moving on the the supermarket. Many times, the organic offerings were limp and lifeless, just the way I would feel after traveling for days to reach Hawaii. The Eat Local Challenge has led to a few conscious choices for me through such suggestions as:

If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.

This month, I'm finding myself at the Farmers' Market first and KTA second. The health food stores here in Kona are wonderful providers of organic and natural but still processed and packaged foods. They have a long way to go in providing us with a large and consistent supply of produce. I'm sure there are economic reasons for that, but I'm a simple consumer and will go where the grass is greener!

September 05, 2007

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the cup overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. "it is overfull. No more will go in."

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" - Paul Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones From Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith

When I was a realtor, I had a client who bought and sold investment properties. She had the amazing ability to patiently ask the same questions of everyone who had anything remotely pertinent to offer. "They all have different viewpoints," she explained. "When you buy an apartment building, the janitor, rentor, owner and neighbor all see it in a different light. I want to know what they all think."

Showing up full of our own opinions and speculations may save time, but it might make for a poor investment.

September 03, 2007

When you look at what is working, then you generate a vibration within you that says my life works, and then, in everything that you approach - your life works.

-Abraham-Hicks

If you always regard the good things that happen to you as miracles, it's a telltale sign that you might be viewing hardships and disappointments as a fact of life and to be normal for you. The old "glass is half empty" model of thought. What would the converse look like?

The Abraham-Hicks quote continues: You could have ninety-nine things not working in your life and only one thing working, and if you would focus upon the one thing that is going right, for a disproportionate amount of time, saying "my life works; my life works; my life works..." the other 99 things would fall in line with what is working.

A crucial component is the way you feel as you speak those words, "my life works". If you're just spouting the words and still feeling angry or fearful, you won't register very high, if at all, on the Richter Scale of Happiness & Well-Being. It takes practice. You saw that coming, didn't you? Practice.

When we are new to yoga, we often have to be reminded to breathe. As our practice expands, we learn to allow our breath to become the thread that weaves through our physical movements. Then, through further practice, we are able to think of something that brings us joy as we inhale into each of the postures.

At that level of practice, every yoga class is a joy to us. The teacher, style, location or size of the class matters not. Our personal practice time becomes something to look forward to, not just an item to be checked off a list. We are able to extract joy simply through the act of inhaling.

If you have not yet experienced yoga or that aspect of it, you could begin by changing your focus. Start looking for things to appreciate that are right under your nose...even if it's just a mirror that fogs up because you're breathing.

The last part of the Abraham-Hicks article continues to say: So when we say to count your blessings or look at the positive aspects, that's just about deliberately activating what is working in your life. Because when you do that, you get more and more, and more of that. That's how the better it gets, the better it gets - the better it gets. That's when it's easy to accept that Well-Being is the order of this Universe.